4. LITERATURE PARTNER.

It's been a few days since the event happened and things were finally going back to normal for Ashley except for the thought of Alex in her mind. She had already forgotten about Daniel and didn't place any focus on him with the help of her friends. She only found herself getting interested in Alex these days especially if he was asked a question in class, he wouldn't be able to give a correct answer. He was one of the least students with low grades in school which somehow surprised Ashley. She would always see him with books at every chance that he got, was he not really reading them and was just using them as a way to escape reality? She did that for some time too but he was becoming regular at it.

"Hey, Ashley, throw the basketball over here," Sammie yelled as they ran around the basketball court for physical education practices. Ashley did as she was told, she was sweating so hard but didn't mind it. This wasn't her favorite sport to get involved in but then if it meant getting the highest in her studies she was ready to walk through hell.

"Pass it over." A lady yelled at Sammie as they were on the same team. Finally, the PHE teacher summoned all of them with the use of a whistle and they gathered around.

"If I must say, I am impressed that you are getting better at sports than when I met you." He complimented. He was a new teacher that was brought to the school not quite long and the condition that he had met the students in terms of school exercises was just too unbearable. Ashley raised her fingers to get his attention.

"Yes, Ashley."

"Does this mean that we get higher grades in our results?" She asked while trying to catch her breath and being hopeful about it. She had suffered enough for today so there should be something rewarding for her efforts.

"Uhm...I didn't say anything like that but I will remember this of you all."

"What?"

*Alright, you are dismissed." The students packed their things and went their various ways. Sammie and Ashley went to the bathroom for a quick shower. They wore their clean pair of clothes before stepping out.

"What do you want to eat?" She asked Sammie.

"I don't know yet. Let me ask Josh, I will go and find him. Hold on."

"Sure."

Not quite long after Sammie left, Daniel made his appearance with a gentle smile but surprisingly, Ashley didn't even cast him one of her former affectionate looks. She was less concerned and preferred to look elsewhere.

"Hey, Ashley. How are you doing?" He asked her after a while of being unnoticed by Ashley. The latter threw him a forced smile.

"Hi, I am doing well. Thank you for asking after me."

"You are welcome."

He was staring at her. Daniel noticed that she was behaving differently towards him and he somehow didn't like it. He moved closer to her but Ashley took three steps backward and pushed her hand out to stop him from getting closer than he already was.

"Stay away from me, please."

"What's wrong, Ashley? You are behaving strangely towards me." He said as he stretched his hands out, expecting that she might place hers on his hands but nothing came up.

"What do you mean by behaving strangely? Can you please just stay away from me? I am not in a good mood right now." She answered.

"But..." He took a few steps closer.

"She said you should stay away from her, are your ears working oppositely?" Someone asked coldly from behind. The two of them looked at who it was - the black guy in the hoodie, Alex.

He was standing not too far from them with a napkin in his hands. He finished cleaning them and threw the napkin into the trash bin before giving the two of them a look. Daniel frowned.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" He asked angrily.

Ashley quickly walked away from the red flag standing in front of her, she wanted to be beside Alex but the latter just dipped his hands into his pockets and walked away unbothered, surprising Ashley once again.

Did he just abandon her? What type of guy was he? Didn't he know how to treat a lady in distress? Then Josh and Sammie appeared so Daniel had no choice but to leave her alone.

'Oh, he must have seen the two of them coming.' Ashley thought and smiled. Wow.

"Why are you smiling like a brainless person?" Sammie asked while chewing her gum and Ashley's smile instantly disappeared.

"Why must our friendship be toxic?"

"I wonder too." Josh supported her.

"Anyway, what were two guys doing here with you?"

"I have a wonderful gist to tell you. I think I have found a new crush." Ashley giggled.

"Oh my goodness, this is about to turn really creepy," Sammie whispered with a tinge of regret while Ashley kept smiling from ear to ear like a little girl who had finally found her favorite ice cream spot.

~~~~~~

When they resumed back to class, the literature teacher decided to pair them up for their group work and assignments. She chose a few people and then got to Ashley's side, being one of her best students, she instructed her to pick someone that she would like to pair up with.

Ashley nodded politely with a smile and stood up. She looked at each face of the students, some were secretly signaling to her to choose them for the work. Who wouldn't like to rock and roll with the school's best students?

But she slowly turned around and her eyes landed on someone. A guy in front of Alex stood up happily thinking it was him.

"Thank you..."

"Not you. I choose the person behind you."

The whole class gasped, even the teacher was surprised but Alex seemed unbothered. It was as if he was expecting her to do something as foolish as this. Their eyes met and she smiled innocently.

Alex sighed softly and looked out the window instead.

"Are you sure, Ashley?" The teacher asked her as she looked from her to Alex. She knew him well enough to not participate in school activities and Ashley had foolishly chosen someone as him to do the deed.

"Yes, Mrs Charles. I am sure."

"Alright then." The woman got over it and went ahead with her class. After she was done arranging it for them, she gave them the assignments and left the class. The students couldn't help but talk to themselves about Ashley's foolish decision. They couldn't wait to see how she was going to handle things with him. The school bell rang and Ashley stood up quickly to have a conversation with him but Alex pulled his bag alone with him and walked out of the class.

The students burst into laughter at the embarrassment.

Sammie came behind her and placed her hand on Ashley's shoulder.

"You're a goner and a failure for this subject, sis." She whispered.

"I guess I am." Ashley felt like crying.

~~~~~~~~~

"Mum, at this point, I don't know what to do. I feel like I implicated myself the more. He has been avoiding me for as long as I can remember as if I am poison to him." Ashley complained to her mum who was busy slicing her apples so she could eat them while sharing the gist with her.

"What made you say that in the first place? Because you mentioned that the two of you aren't that close so what led to what?"

"He saved me twice from unwanted guys and he didn't even wait for me to say a word of appreciation. He is always cold and reserved, he doesn't talk to anyone, doesn't have any friends, doesn't answer any questions yet he fails every subject despite reading for them in class. I kinda pity him and he rose my interest in him." She answered sincerely and picked another piece.

"So, it is not because you have a sort of crush on him?" Ariana questioned her to be clear on that aspect.

"I am still recovering from my last HEARTBREAK." Ashley frowned.

"Okay then. I don't know what to say about this because you are the one being adamant about teaching him and being with him which looks abnormal to me however if he doesn't give you a chance to know him or help me, it would be better to let him go. And if he opens the door for you then you can get in politely because some people suffer in silence and that's just their way of making it up to themselves, he could be burning in silence and loneliness and might just need someone to pull him out of it.

At first, he could be resistant, however, don't let it scare you at all. Be patient but please, my dear, be careful and don't hide anything from me regarding the issue no matter what, okay?" Ariana looked into her eyes hopefully.

"Yes, mum. I won't. Thank you very much."

This advice of hers had given her much hope to want to bring Alex out of his shell. He could be battling with depression and might need help so it was up to her to see what was wrong but with the use of maturity.

But for now, she needed to know how to convince him to do the work assigned to them because it was absolutely something that she couldn't do all by herself.